Subject: "The Fallen Lord"
This year can be described as a big year for souls games, "Wo Long: Skyfall" and "Pinocchio's Lies" two mature works are in front, and "The Fallen Lord", which aroused players' interest by promoting CG, is also followed - Unreal Engine 5 development, dual worlds inside and outside, medieval Western fantasy style, mellow soul flavor... One label after another has soul lovers looking forward to the game before it launches. However, after the actual experience, it is not difficult for players to find that the "Fallen Lord" team does have good ideas, but they also lack the experience and ability to monetize them.
In the game, players take on the role of a member of the Dark Expeditionary Force and embark on an epic quest to overthrow the evil god Adil. The most amazing design of "Lord of the Fallen" lies in the construction of the outer and inner worlds - after the player dies in the inner world, they will be resurrected in the same place in the inner world, and only when they die again in the inner world will they really come back to life by the campfire, which can be said to be a real "shadow of the second degree". Unlike the Table World, the monsters in the Inner World are constantly increasing over time, and if you stay in the Inner World for too long, you will be chased by the Grim Reaper, urging the player to reincarnate as soon as possible, or find a totem to return to the Table World.
At the same time, because the map elements of the inner and outer worlds are not consistent, the game team also added puzzle elements to it. Players can actively use the prop lantern to make the inner world within the light range visible. The experience of turning a lake into a land and a moat into a thoroughfare is truly eye-catching.
But the advantages of the game can be said to be nothing more, in terms of game optimization, action design, map construction, attack locking, monster types, hit effects and other most basic content of the game, "Fallen Lord" can be called the most "degenerate" existence under the same investment volume in 2023.
Especially the map building and the unimaginative boss, in such a huge but lack of memory points of the three-dimensional map, players against the extremely rare bonfire, through the mines, abysses, downtown, snowfield, and finally face the boss again and again, the attack model is very similar, the battle is hastily ended, it is really tedious to the extreme. And the highlight of the game, "The World of the Surface", has gradually become boring in the high-similarity puzzle-solving process in the later stage - Brave, there is a locked door here, you can open the movie world to find the key!
Judging from many details, the team of "Fallen Lord" is serious and honest, including the construction of the map of the two realms with double work, the super large scale of buildings, the art materials that fill the map, and the light and shadow effects of the characters' movements. However, the lack of experience and ability, the huge map does not allow exploration enthusiasts to feel the willow and flowers, the flashy action does not make action lovers dance on a tightrope, and the most important challenges of souls-like games are also lackluster under the repeated pile of monsters and boring bosses.
Lord of the Fallen's attempt to incorporate the mechanics of other genres into Souls-type mode is something to be encouraged, but admittedly, it's not a full-fledged game.
Reporter | Liu Kehong
Editor-in-charge | Zhan Xiwei
Proofreading | Gui Qing